IT Worker Confidence Grows

The latest quarterly IT Employee Confidence Index report from Technisource shows that overall confidence among U.S. technology professionals has risen to its highest level since Q4 of 2005. According to the report, IT workers feel better about their job prospects, job stability, and their current company's future. All welcome news for IT pros and even CIOs, after all true leadership and good senior IT management encourages the growth of skills and confidence in their workers.

The IT Employee Confidence Index is a measure of overall confidence among U.S. technology workers. The recent online survey was conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Technisource and Randstad Technologies included 253 individuals that are employed in the technology industry.

The number of technology workers indicating that the economy is getting stronger nearly doubled in the first quarter of 2012—leading to the highest confidence ratings in the history of the survey. In addition, 20 percent more IT workers reported that they are confident in their ability to find a new job in the first quarter, and 41 percent indicated a likelihood to act on it.

Q1, 2012 Survey Highlights:

IT Worker Confidence in the Economy Spikes

Technology professionals demonstrated a large spike in confidence in the overall economy, with 40 percent now believing the economy is getting stronger, up 18 percentage points from Q4 2011.

One-Third of IT Workers Believe More Jobs are Available

Thirty-two percent of respondents believe that more IT jobs are now available (up 14 percentage points from the previous quarter).

Tech Workers Optimistic About their Employability

42% of IT workers reported feeling confident in their ability to find a new job—showing no change from the previous quarter.

Workers More Likely to Job Hunt

Forty-one percent (and nine percentage points higher than the previous quarter) of technology workers are likely to proactively seek new employment within the next year.

"Companies are once again looking to technology as a competitive advantage and embracing new implementations and migrations," said Bob Dickey, president of Technisource and Randstad Technologies. "We are seeing all levels of confidence ratings reach new highs—clear evidence indicative of an improving recovery in the tech market. Likewise, our latest report is also seeing the highest number of IT professionals actively seeking to transition from their current employer onto new opportunities since the second quarter of 2008. Given the strength of our industry and the employability of highly-skilled IT workers, it is critical to not lose sight of retention efforts. Specifically, in our business, we continue to see a demand for specialized skills as the job market heats up. We are also seeing more of a rise in the demand for .net and java developers, business analysts, and project managers."

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James Finnan has been covering financial markets for 10 years. He has served as Editor in Chief of CFOZone.com since 2010. Additionally he has been a contributing writer to the My Media network of sites including CIOZone.com, myITview.com, and myCIOview.com.